Mind Power and Jainism

 The mind power and Jainism

This article is published in Onthe dot ezine On 1st March 2023

The History of Curses

We all have read or seen Ramayana and Mahabharata in books or television. We thoroughly enjoyed all episodes, glory and stories of Shri Rama and Ravana, and about the  Kauravas and Pandavas. You may have consciously accepted the fact of miracles you have seen in the story. Especially, the curses given by sages and seen them getting executed too, whether it is Ahilyadevi being turned into stone with the curse of her husband Rishi Gautama or the curse from parents of Shravan Kumar to King Dashrath to die while he is separated from his sons or the Curse from Queen Gandhari to Shri Krishna, his clan and generations to be completely destroyed. We have seen those curses turning true. Did your mind accept this truth ? Didn’t your thirsty mind shout for not quenching the answers to such miracles? Do you have any answers? If no, read this article for the thorough answers !!

How these curses came to life?

The secret is a mind game, which modern world is unable to completely discover. We pursue a thought process that whatever was taught to us in  schools and universities as academic curriculum are the best discoveries or inventions  by the scholars of contemporary era. Little do we know that science, arts and maths prevailed in India (erstwhile Bharat) since thousands of years, and not only that but also a science to direct the mind to get the desired results. It is not a myth, rather a proven fact that, the world has known today. We have got so many mentalists doing shows proving that. 

The Secret unveiled - Meditation

Meditation today, is an activity to relieve from the stress. We meditate only to achieve some transitory mental peace and relaxation to our mind and body. For its entirety, let us dive into the secret of mind. It is  an art of training and programming your mind. 

Mind:

Mind is the player and controller of our body, our activities. Epicentre and warehouse of thoughts, audio-visuals, memories etc. There are three minds: 

Conscious mind: This is the captain or King of our body,  navigates the entire body to do its process in accordance with time, environment and location. It captures the feelings, emotions, experiences of good and bad etc. The storage capacity of conscious mind is too small and hence anything captured, observed, or experienced are  short-lived. It creates an awareness  of almost everything that is around you.  Conscious mind is about the thoughts and activities within our awareness. Example : Seeing a movie and like or dislike a scene, character or direction etc. 

Sub-Conscious mind: A very determined servant to the King and has a long-term memory. It just obeys the orders from its master and do not judge. This is about immediate actions and reactions once we place our thoughts on something. For Example1: While we read a book we do not read each alphabet, we read the words and we correctly fit the next word to the sentence without much comprehension i.e., the memory enables the continuity and flow.  Example2: The Movie scene you saw consciously, the subconscious mind records whatever you liked or disliked, it doesn’t know that whether the scene you are looking at, is for real or not, and the results are clear, we fear ghosts, darkness etc. The capabilities of sub-conscious mind are miraculous and will see it later.

 

Super-Conscious mind: This brings about the ultimate level of awareness, that goes far beyond conscious and sub-conscious mind. It is an energy that lies above the visible truth or reality, which is beyond the mundane. This state of mind takes you to your true self beyond the realms of materialism. Modern science is still struggling to define this state of mind which in essence, is the state of all liberated souls, while they were alive. All Jain Tirthankaras and their majority of disciples attained the ultimate happiness and liberated themselves from the cycle of birth and death. 

The human nature is very difficult to understand. The entire Jainism is based on how a human mind can lead to ultimate happiness and how can a person detach themselves from their belongings, sadness, greed, fears, vulnerabilities, attachments to good and bad, attachments of past and worries of future. 

With the busy life we live in, we seldom think about liberation from birth and death. It’s about time we really need to analyse, reflect and curb the damages we have inflicted upon our lives. 

How to endeavour it?

Jainism shows a well-defined path with three important jewels: 

Samyag Darshan (See and observe which is absolute and true)

Samyag Gyan (Gain knowledge that is absolute and true. Defined by someone who has experienced the realm of liberation)

 Samyag Chaaritra (Practice whatever you observed and learned from Samyag Darshan and Samyag Gyan and carve out a path to lead a life with happiness during all the time you live and ultimately reach the point of complete freedom from all the sorrows, fears, and vulnerabilities of life forever)

The success to this path lies in continuity and consciousness (learn, think, reflect and apply) what your conscious mind shows you, and reasons behind it. Sub-conscious mind impacts positively, if programmed smartly and simultaneously can be very harmful when programmed negatively with the daily chaos, way of handling rejection, anger, likes and dislikes.  Below are some steps how to program your mind. 

Steps: 

Aparigraha (minimalism): Jainism emphasis on minimalism i.e., less of possessions, interaction, communication and hence less chance of friction causing subconscious mind to program itself. Example: Be happy with whatever you have for self, business, or position in the society. It doesn’t stop one from expanding, but at the same time gives space to remain happy always.  This avoids unnecessary programming of hatred and greed, thus will give you lesser stress, which means more happier life. Self-happiness leads to creating happiness for others too. 

Pratikraman (Introspection): We interact with so many people in a day, known/ unknown, important/unimportant, necessary/unnecessary or good/bad. One may not know what is perceived out of such interactions in their heart, mind and soul. Everyone has subconscious mind, if it makes miracles, the same can happen to others. We commit many sins right from stampeding micro-organisms to killing animals. Such cruelty programs your mind to be severe and cruel too. The ‘karma’ is always neutral. It does not discriminate between good and bad; it just gives back with interest, anything you do. Only way to eliminate ‘karmas’ is to go back into the memory lane of all the deeds we did. Repent and apologise for things you did within your control or out of your control.  Jains, for many millennials follow this process every morning and evening, for all the sins they might have performed during night or day, physically, or thinking wrong or harmful to anyone. We can follow this as a part of our routine, not necessary to follow Jain rituals.

Prayers: The perfect way to meditate is to praise someone who is absolute and complete. Idealise his characteristics and try to imbibe the same in yourself. Choose a calm environment and sit composed at one place for at least 10 mins. For first 40 days keep a picture or idol or any object you can focus on and recite the Ideal persons name and his characteristics with open eyes, and post continuity of 40 days, you can choose to close your eyes and recite the mantra or name. Post another 40 days, increase the time lines and observe the positivity and change you have achieved.  

Conclusively, Perceive and practice this training to achieve perfection in everything you do and permanent happiness.

 _The writer is a Real Estate Expert with more than 27 Years of work experience. A Jain by religion, he is an Artist by heart. With his vivid experience in diverse fields Nikhil steers to provide professional real estate, religious, philosophical guidance which is not only fruitful but helps spreading positivity._